ABSTRACT

We examined whether the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) is applicable not only for assessing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their mothers but also with their fathers. Forty preschoolers with ASD were observed in the SSP with their mothers and 39 with their fathers. Unexpectedly, the SSP was found to be not applicable (NA) to 25% of the SSPs with fathers because levels of attachment behavior were minimal, but all SSPs with mothers were codable. NA children had lower cognitive functioning and more severe symptoms than those not so coded. Insecure children with their fathers had more severe symptoms than secure children, but were not different in their cognitive functioning. No associations between attachment with mother and severity of symptoms/cognitive functioning were found. Attachment was unrelated to parents’ distress or Broad Autism Phenotype. The study raises questions regarding the applicability of the SSP with fathers of children with ASD.

摘要

我们检查了奇异情境程序 (SSP) 是否不仅适用于评估患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的儿童及其母亲，也适用于他们的父亲。在 SSP 中观察到 40 名患有 ASD 的学龄前儿童与他们的母亲和 39 名与他们的父亲一起。出乎意料的是，发现 SSP 不适用于 25% 的有父亲的 SSP，因为依恋行为水平最低，但所有有母亲的 SSP 都是可编码的。与未编码的儿童相比，NA 儿童的认知功能更低，症状更严重。与父亲在一起的不安全儿童比安全儿童有更严重的症状，但他们的认知功能没有差异。没有发现与母亲的依恋与症状/认知功能的严重程度之间存在关联。依恋与父母的痛苦或广泛的自闭症表型无关。该研究提出了有关 SSP 是否适用于患有 ASD 孩子的父亲的问题。